‘It appears magical’: does light therapy actually deliver clearer skin, healthier teeth, and more resilient joints?

Phototherapy is definitely experiencing a wave of attention. Consumers can purchase illuminated devices designed to address dermatological concerns and fine lines to sore muscles and gum disease, recently introduced is an oral care tool enhanced with miniature red light sources, marketed by the company as “a breakthrough for domestic dental hygiene.” Worldwide, the market was worth $1bn in 2024 and is projected to grow to $1.8bn by 2035. You can even go and sit in an infrared sauna, which use infrared light to warm the body directly, the thermal energy targets your tissues immediately. As claimed by enthusiasts, it feels similar to a full-body light therapy session, enhancing collagen production, relaxing muscles, reducing swelling and long-term ailments as well as supporting brain health.

Research and Reservations

“It sounds a bit like witchcraft,” says a neuroscience expert, professor in neuroscience at Durham University and a convert to the value of light therapy. Naturally, certain impacts of light on human physiology are proven. Sunlight enables vitamin D production, crucial for strong bones, immune defense, and tissue repair. Light exposure controls our sleep-wake cycles, too, stimulating neurotransmitter and hormone production during daytime, and winding down bodily functions for sleep as it fades into night. Daylight-simulating devices frequently help individuals with seasonal depression to boost low mood in winter. Undoubtedly, light plays a vital role in human health.

Types of Light Therapy

Whereas seasonal affective disorder devices typically employ blue-range light, the majority of phototherapy tools use red or near-infrared wavelengths. In serious clinical research, like examinations of infrared influence on cerebral tissue, determining the precise frequency is essential. Light constitutes electromagnetic energy, spanning from low-energy radio waves to the highest-energy (gamma waves). Phototherapy, or light therapy utilizes intermediate light frequencies, the highest energy of those being invisible ultraviolet, then the visible spectrum we perceive as colors and infrared light visible through night vision technology.

UV light has been used by medical dermatologists for many years to treat chronic skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis and vitiligo. It works on the immune system within cells, “and dampens down inflammation,” explains a skin specialist. “Substantial research supports light therapy.” UVA penetrates skin more deeply than UVB, while the LEDs in consumer devices (usually producing colored light emissions) “typically have shallower penetration.”

Safety Protocols and Medical Guidance

Potential UVB consequences, including sunburn or skin darkening, are well known but in medical devices the light is delivered in a “narrow-band” form – signifying focused frequency bands – that reduces potential hazards. “It’s supervised by a healthcare professional, meaning intensity is regulated,” explains the dermatologist. Most importantly, the devices are tuned by qualified personnel, “to confirm suitable light frequency output – as opposed to commercial tanning facilities, where oversight might be limited, and we don’t really know what wavelengths are being used.”

Home Devices and Scientific Uncertainty

Red and blue LEDs, he says, “aren’t typically employed clinically, but they may help with certain conditions.” Red LEDs, it is proposed, enhance blood flow, oxygen utilization and dermal rejuvenation, and promote collagen synthesis – an important goal for anti-aging. “Research exists,” says Ho. “But it’s not conclusive.” In any case, amid the sea of devices now available, “we don’t know whether or not the lights emitted are reflective of the research that has been done. Appropriate exposure periods aren’t established, ideal distance from skin surface, the risk-benefit ratio. Many uncertainties remain.”

Specific Applications and Professional Perspectives

One of the earliest blue-light products targeted Cutibacterium acnes, microorganisms connected to breakouts. Research support isn’t sufficient for standard medical recommendation – despite the fact that, says Ho, “it’s often seen in medical spas or aesthetics practices.” Individuals include it in their skincare practices, he mentions, though when purchasing home devices, “we recommend careful testing and security confirmation. If it’s not medically certified, oversight remains ambiguous.”

Advanced Research and Cellular Mechanisms

At the same time, in innovative scientific domains, Chazot has been experimenting with brain cells, discovering multiple mechanisms for infrared’s cellular benefits. “Nearly every test with precise light frequencies demonstrated advantageous outcomes,” he reports. It is partly these many and varied positive effects on cellular health that have driven skepticism about light therapy – that claims seem exaggerated. But his research has thoroughly changed his mind in that respect.

The scientist mainly develops medications for neurological conditions, however two decades past, a doctor developing photonic antiviral treatment consulted his scientific background. “He created some devices so that we could work with them with cells and with fruit flies,” he recalls. “I was quite suspicious. The specific wavelength measured approximately 1070nm, which most thought had no biological effect.”

Its beneficial characteristic, nevertheless, was its efficient water penetration, allowing substantial bodily penetration.

Cellular Energy and Neurological Benefits

More evidence was emerging at the time that infrared light targeted the mitochondria in cells. Mitochondria are the powerhouses of cells, creating power for cellular operations. “All human cells contain mitochondria, even within brain tissue,” explains the neuroscientist, who prioritized neurological investigations. “Studies demonstrate enhanced cerebral circulation with light treatment, which is consistently beneficial.”

Using 1070nm wavelength, mitochondria also produce a small amount of a molecule known as reactive oxygen species. In low doses this substance, notes the scientist, “stimulates so-called chaperone proteins which look after your mitochondria, preserve cell function and eliminate damaged proteins.”

Such mechanisms indicate hope for cognitive disorders: free radical neutralization, inflammation reduction, and waste removal – self-digestion mechanisms eliminating harmful elements.

Ongoing Study Progress and Specialist Evaluations

When recently reviewing 1070nm research for cognitive decline, he says, several hundred individuals participated in various investigations, incorporating his preliminary American studies